Canelo Alvarez next opponent shortlist created ahead of potential September return

Callum Smith, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Avni Yilidirim all potential opponents for Canelo Alvarez's next fight touted for September

Canelo Alvarez the pound for pound No.1, will attempt to make a return to the ring on the original planned date of September 12th, but is finding difficulties negotiating with opponents as a result of the ongoing pandemic. There have been many complications surrounding the vacant belt after the WBC ordered Canelo to fight Avni Yildirim for the vacant super middleweight title, but it is largely expected that DAZN will not approve this bout, and expect an opponent of higher calibre for the arranged date.

Opponents that are being touted for the Mexican, include Briton Callum Smith, Sergiy Derevyanchenko and John Ryder. 

However, many attempts at negotiations for potential bouts have already failed this year, such as a possible fight with Billy Joe Saunders being cancelled at short notice after his withdrawal, in addition to talks stalling for a mega fight with Callum Smith in recent weeks.

Canelo's promoter Golden Boy Promotions have commented in recent weeks regarding the speculation of several opponents, with president Eric Gomez emphasising their ambition to get their main man back in the ring as soon as possible.

He said: "It is more difficult now because of the restrictions. The borders are not all open so it isn’t easy to bring some fighters to the US. It all depends on the negotiations. We are not living in the world that we lived in last year. Canelo will be taking a significant pay cut. It depends on the negotiations. Anybody willing to come to the table and be reasonable, he will fight. We are not discarding any of the top guys.If you look at Canelo’s career, he has always wanted to fight the best and it’s no different here, he still wants to fight the best.

“But some really good fighters are available to fight Canelo in September and that’s what we are working on now. We’re talking to him and presenting different ideas for him to be able to fight in September.The big concern that he has is the protocols.

If he fights in September, there will be no fans. We are in communication with him and soon he will make a decision – does he want to fight without fans or wait until there is some sort of normalcy again?"

Many have called for Canelo to make a return promptly, with the best boxers needed to be active and fghting to remain at the top level of the sport, and Eric Gomez voiced his agreement and has highlighted Canelo's determiation to return to the ring despite a potential pay cut or fight without the fans.

“Canelo is a young man in his prime years and he wants to take advantage of the fact that he can still fight at a high level. To take a year off would be very damaging in his prime. That is the motivation.

“He wants to keep proving that he is the best fighter in the world.”

Canelo and his team will hope that a fight can materialise in the coming weeks, with the four weight world champion's last fight coming against Sergey Kovalev who he defeated to gain the WBO light-heavyweight title back in November 2019.

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